Travel Info for Expats

This info is ONLY for expats who live in Mexico full time or part time. Make sure to carefully fill out the FMM form CORRECTLY. HAND WRITE Resident Permanente across the TOP of FMM form. Country of Residence is MEXICO. Purpose of travel: Other.As an RP visa holder (Resident Permanent), any time you fly out of Mexico you will have to fill out an FMM and give it to the airline carrier to be attached to your boarding pass. The shorter lower segment of

the form will be collected at the INM desk prior to entering the boarding area. The tricky part is how the FMM is handled when reentering Mexico. Airline personnel usually hand out the forms on board the flight to Mexico. Permanent Residents MUST fill in the information boxes in the top portion of the form, including noting Mexico as country of residence (box #7), the number shown on the back of the INM green card (box #8), checking OTHER/OTRO as purpose of trip (box #9). ADD the hand-written notation Residente Permanente across the top of the form and detach the lower portion of form to KEEP until you arrive home. Once off the plane, pay close attention as you go through the immigration filter. First of all show the official your INM resident

green card and passport and verbally state "soy residente." Then hand over only the top portion of the FMM. Cooperate if the official on duty insists that you fill out both segments of the form, but make sure that the gray areas designated for Uso Oficial are filled out properly before leaving the immigration desk. ALARM: If there is a check mark in the section labeled Estancia Maxima 180 days you will be registered as a visitor in the INM data base, automatically losing your resident status. Stand your ground to see that the mistake is corrected and the section below, titled "Unicamente Para Efectos Estadisticos," is CORRECTLY checked off in the box labeled Tarjeta Permanente Temporal. Resident.  Expats NEED to follow the same procedures when leaving and entering the country by land or sea. Guillermina Cortés also pointed out that RP and PT holders are not subject to paying any processing fees to airline companies or immigration checkpoints since they have already paid the requisite taxes for obtaining their visas. All it takes is a seemingly minor clerical error committed when going through immigration stations at border crossings and as you make your way through international airports.

ALERT yourself to the DETAILS of each FMM form you fill out, and before leaving the WINDOW at Guad Airport, make sure the correct BOX below USO OFFICIAL is correct. A Residente Temporal (RT) or Residente Permanente (RP) status could be MISTAKENLY SWITCHED to a visitor permit good for a maximum of 180 days. According to INM's Chapala office chief Guillermina Cortés, at least a dozen lakeside area immigrants have lost their residency visas due to paperwork glitches when returning to Mexico from trips abroad. Essentially the problem stems from errors in processing the Forma Migratoria Multiple (FMM), a standard form that must be submitted individually by all foreigners entering and exiting Mexico. PRINT THIS AND KEEP PAPER INSIDE PASSPORT.